Mother Goose (Michael Chanak) is a regular contributor to The Word, serving Indiana, and other states.
In this June 2016 issue, page 19, Matt Parker of Caracole weighs in on funding cuts and services for HIV+ folks in Greater Cincinnati.
Mother Goose (Michael Chanak) is a regular contributor to The Word, serving Indiana, and other states.
In this June 2016 issue, page 19, Matt Parker of Caracole weighs in on funding cuts and services for HIV+ folks in Greater Cincinnati.
Mother Goose (Michael Chanak) is a regular contributor to The Word, serving Indiana, and other states.
In this June 2016 issue, page 19, Matt Parker of Caracole weighs in on funding cuts and services for HIV+ folks in Greater Cincinnati.
O ne of the great spent our days outside joys of being THE GOOSE IS LOOSE of the office in the loa volunteer cal community testing is that Ive met folks individuals who were who have expertise at a at high risk for HIV wealth of topics. infection and, often, As a community were financially unable writer, I have many to afford and HIV test interests. When I see elsewhere. issues that need to be Our services freMichael given voice, it is nice quently served the Chanak to have friends who homeless, sex workers, can give me a firsthand injection drug users perspective. One such and many other groups person is Matt Parker. His story and of people whose personal health situaperspective follows! tions are habitually overlooked. It was Recently, the Ohio State Legislature my job to meet these individuals with adopted House Bill 294 by a vote of 62compassion and genuine concern so that 30. Many of you may not be aware that I could provide them with the dignity this legislation officially stripped away of receiving a basic health test. When a $1.3 million in funding away from Ohio client tested HIV+, it was my mission Planned Parenthood health education to comfort and guide them through the programs. This law stipulates that any process of finding a doctor so they could abortion provider can no longer receive acquire the proper medication. state funds and, furthermore, no agency My coworkers and I would also that receives state funding can even provide HIV+ individuals counseling on partner with an abortion provider for any how to handle their daily health needs reason. and how to safely (and successfully!) disI write about this new law for two close their status to partners. This is the reasons; the first being that I was an job I performed on a daily basis as part employee of Planned Parenthood of of the Planned Parenthood team. I was Southwest Ohio and this bill directly good at my job and I sincerely desired to affected me and my job security. The affect change in the local community. second reason is because I have genuine With the passage of Ohio House Bill concern regarding the health-education 294, all of my daily work was suddenly programs impacted by this defunding in jeopardy. Without the grant-related and the future of health/sexuality educafunding the HIV Project received from tion in the state of Ohio. the local county health department and By removing these funds from Planned from the Ohio Department of Health, it Parenthood, programs such as PREP would no longer be able to function. My (Personal Responsibility Education coworkers and I began to scramble to unProgram) and VAWA (Violence against cover a way to prevent the unthinkable. Women Act) have no defined future in How could we preserve this program so Ohio. In regard to me, this law cut fundthat the community wouldnt lose these ing for my specific program, The HIV valuable services? Prevention Project. Over the last four Fortunately, this story has a silver linyears I had been employed by Planned ing. The HIV Prevention Project was able Parenthood as an HIV Health Education to find an agency willing to take on the specialist, with my program providing arduous task of sustaining our services. education, HIV testing and counseling Caracole Inc. worked with our program to a large variety of community partners to create a grant proposal and ultimately and citizens in the greater Cincinnati was able to acquire county funding for area. HIV prevention. As such, the agency At the time, the HIV Prevention hired our team to begin prevention program provided HIV testing and services as of April 1, 2016. While the services to anyone in need, completely process of sorting out the mess created free of charge. My coworkers and I often by House Bill 294 was a difficult one, I
Prictured, from left, Adam Reilly, Prevention Manager,
and Health Educators Tavon Hall and Matt Parker.
am very happy to tell the readers of this
article that our services remain intact and uninterrupted. Caracole Inc. is Southwest Ohios only independent case management agency for individuals and families who are living with or are impacted by HIV. The agency serves clients in eight counties in the region. Caracole was founded in 1987 with the mission of providing care to HIV+ individuals in the last days of their life when many other options for care didnt exist. Since then, the agency has grown by leaps and bounds, now providing case management and housing assistance to more than 1,500 clients. It is important to note that Caracole is no stranger to adapting how the agency functions, having taken over the caseload from the now defunct agency, Stop AIDS, in 2011.
June 2016
It is also important to note that
Caracole has managed to become a fully encompassing HIV service agency, providing service at all points in the spectrum of care. HIV prevention, case management, housing, and linkage to care or all crucial services that are provided to HIV+ individuals on a daily basis. It is my sincere hope that by becoming part of Caracole, the HIV Prevention Project will grow vastly and continually expanding our outreach, testing and prevention efforts. Anyone in Southwest Ohio interested in HIV case management services, or to schedule your FREE rapid HIV test, can contact Caracole at 513-761-1480. O Michael Goose Chanak is a longtime active member of the Cincinnati LGTB community. Contact him at goose@maryx goose.org or www.maryxgoose.org.